Vietnam speaks out about the encounter between the Australian and Chinese planes over the East Sea

Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang – Photo: FOREIGN MINISTRY

At the regular press conference on June 9, answering a reporter’s question, asking for Vietnam’s reaction to the information “Australian plane was harassed by Chinese fighter aircraft” in the airspace of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa archipelago, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang emphasized:

“Vietnam believes that the activities of all countries should be in accordance with international law, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, and the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) ), does not increase regional tensions, makes practical contributions to maintaining peace, stability, security, order, cooperation and development of the region and the world.

Once again, Vietnam affirms that it has sufficient legal grounds and historical evidence for its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos in accordance with international law.

China and Australia have exchanged words because of the incident on May 26 on East Sea. On June 5, the Australian Department of Defense confirmed for the first time that a Chinese fighter jet had taken a dangerous action when it crossed the face of an Australian P-8A surveillance plane over the South China Sea.

The Australian defense official later described the Chinese plane dropping aluminum bags in front of the Australian plane. Some of these pieces of aluminum caught in the engine, but the Australian plane still returned to base safely.

China’s military later denied the accusations and said it had acted rationally. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Khac Phi accused the P-8A of “continuously approaching China’s airspace” in the Paracel Islands, which are under Vietnamese sovereignty, but were occupied by China by force. legal.

“This incident happened in international airspace,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded when asked about China’s claim.

According to assessments and satellite images of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), China has blatantly rehabilitated and illegally deployed air defense assets and fighter jets at a number of features. in the Hoang Sa archipelago of Vietnam.

Beijing did not specify where the fighter jets that encountered the Australian plane came from. However, the incident once again made observers worried about China’s military activities affecting freedom of overflight in the East Sea.